I'm Here
by DancingNancyy
Summary: Captain Swan Au. Former lovers, Killian and Emma meet again unexpectedly after a messy break up. Just a little one-shot I cooked up.


Emma was not having a good evening. She'd been stood up and she wasn't even on a date.

Of course Ruby would talk her into attending this charity event for endangered wolves and then somehow not even even show up. Leaving Emma dressed up in a really great dress (red, slinky, floor length, and backless. I mean might as well go all out, right?) But when Emma showed up and gotten a mysterious text from Ruby saying she couldn't make it Emma became slightly suspicious and definitely annoyed.

But she was all dressed up and looked damn good if she did say so herself, so she made her way over to the thankfully open bar. If she was going to be stood up tonight she'd make the best of it.

"Whiskey, neat." She ordered, leaning up against the bar next to a dark haired man.

"Well, fancy meeting you here, Swan." His familiar lilted voice rang in her ear, she fought the chills as she turned to face him. He was grinning of course.

"You're not alone are you, Swan?" It was a little game of his, call her by her last name, tease her a bit, all the while reeling her in.

Killian Jones, former boyfriend and best lover she'd ever had, stood next to her in all his gorgeous dark hair, dark-scruff-bearded glory. They'd been seeing each other a few months ago for a short time. She'd fallen for him hard and fast but somehow they could never really get it together. She'd been travelling a lot for work and he'd been dealing with family issues. It just got to the point where they could never been in the right place at the same time.

And now here he was months later just as dashing as ever with his strong jaw line and his piercing blue eyes. She was beginning to understand why this particular charity event had been so important to Ruby (sneaky bitch had been the one to set them up in the first place!).

"As a matter of fact, I am alone." She smiled, taking a sip of her drink the bartender had just set in front of her. "Ruby was supposed to be here, but she canceled at the last minute."

"Ah, that's no fun." He brought his glass to his mouth and she couldn't help following the motion, her gaze on his lips, until of course he saw her and her eyes darted away.

"Well at least there's an open bar."

"Yes thank the gods for that." He smiled again, becoming silent. She could feel his eyes roaming over her body as she could another sip, pretending not to notice. She'd been doing the same thing and he did not disappoint. He was still just as handsome as he'd been months ago. And damn did he clean up good. The suit he was wearing did her no favors in the trying-to-resist-him department. Just seeing him again after all this time brought back a hunger deep in her bones. Being this near to him again, she could practically feel waves of heat rolling off her and something else she was choosing to ignore.

"By the way," he leaned over the bar, a guise to rouse to bartender over, "you look absolutely ravishing, love." His lips ghosted over her ear in nearly a whisper and she knew he felt it too. All the pent up desire on the tip of his tongue.

She simply smiled again, taking every bit of strength she had to keep it together.

"So what is Killian Jones doing at a wolf charity event?" She asked, changing the subject.

"Victor invited me…" he took a gulp of his rum, "and then he too _canceled._"

Damn Rubdy and Victor. They'd conspired together to set this all up. But why? Things had ended so messy, so why would they do this again?

"Would you excuse me, Killian?" Emma set her now empty glass on the bar. She turned around, making her way through the crowded room searching for a restroom. When she finally found it she exhaled the breath she didn't know she was holding.

Gripping the sink for support she willed herself to pull it together. Just seeing the man and hardly speaking more than short cordial sentences at best was sending her into a tailspin. He was seriously getting under her skin. Damn him and his devilishly handsome everything.

Patting a damp cloth to her neck she exhaled again. She'd be lying to herself (not that she wasn't already) if she didn't say that she'd never really stopped caring about him. She'd simply put him out of her mind. Buried herself in work and travel until she'd worked so damn hard she'd earned a promotion where she didn't have to travel anymore. _And that's why now_. She was back in New York long-term for the first time since they'd ended things. This was all a set up.

Or maybe she was thinking too much. Maybe she was getting ahead of herself. Maybe it was just a coincidence.

She walked out of the restroom and saw Killian still at the bar, engaged in conversation with another man. She tried not to make eye contact but he saw her and she deliberately turned the other way. There was a balcony on this floor, she needed air.

"Swan, are you avoiding me?" He appeared behind her seconds later as she walked into the fresh autumn air. The sun was just sinking below the skyline painting the sky with flushing tendrils of light.

"Why now Killian?" She asked, turning to face him, as if continuing a conversation they'd long since dropped.

"Perhaps… perhaps they knew it was never over." He replied quietly, reading her like a book. He could probably see every fleck of red creeping up her neck and into her cheeks. He moved into her, invading her personal space and she breathed him in.

"Killian," she sighed, their faces now only inches apart as they stood near the railing. Slowly, tentatively, she felt his hand cupping her face, waiting, his eyes boring into hers, entrancing her.

"Emma, it was never over for me," he breathed, his lips ghosting over hers, willing her to be the one to close the distance between them. He wouldn't do it, not until she told him to.

And so she did. She gave into every instinct, every pull she'd felt since the moment she heard his familiar voice. His hands were in her hair and their lips crashed together in a long overdue crescendo of passion. Their bodies moved together in sink, pushing and pulling, breathing each other in.

And then somehow reality snuck back in and she pushed him off. His eyes were still closed and face contorted when she'd left him standing on the balcony.

It was too much. She'd kick herself for walking away but could they really do this again? No. It was too messy. Too much. She pushed the doors open, walked timidly back into the hot crowded room and disappeared as he called him name behind her.

~!~

She waited at the curb, angrily trying to hail a cab but there were none in sight. She'd started walking when she heard her name again. Fighting every urge to turn around all she could do was stop in her tracks.

"Emma, please." He'd finally caught up to her and she was now shivering from the dark night, the sun now gone. "Here, love," he wrapped his jacket around her.

"Killian, stop. What are you trying to accomplish here?" She'd finally regained control of herself and her emotions (well somewhat). "Please, just tell me what you want from me? It's been months since we've seen or spoken to each other and now all of a sudden 'it was never over for you'?"

"You just took off, Emma! _He died_ and you just took off. You never returned my calls or messages. Ruby said you'd left the bloody country." His arms were shaking and his voice was hoarse. She couldn't look him in the eyes now, they were too blue, too honest, and too hurt. She looked at the ground. "I know you were afraid, love. I was too. But he was my brother and he died and then you were gone too."

"I'm so sorry, Killian." And she meant it. She'd been denying it for months but confronted with what actually happened, the accident, she just couldn't run anymore.

"I just had to see you. Even though you were a bloody coward," he lifted her chin to meet surprisingly soft his gaze now and she couldn't escape it. "I know why you left."

"You do?"

"You were afraid of losing me too." She tried to look away, to hide her shame and embarrassment for leaving him but she couldn't look away now. "But I'm right here Emma, I'm not going anywhere and _it was never over for me._" He repeated the words again and they it was all sinking in.

"It was never over for me -" she'd hardly uttered the words, the confession, before his mouth was on hers again. Sliding inside the jacket his hand burned her skin as he pressed her into his body. Her hand slid up his chest, the other hand cupping the back of his head, fingered splayed throughout his silky hair. Everything she missed and hoped for poured into that kiss as they moved together.

He pulled away just slightly, resting his forehead against hers, breathless.

"I'm here, Killian." She whispered. She wasn't going anywhere, not tonight, not ever again.


End file.
